Kate g



(l qo Model.)

K. G. CLARK.

CORSET. I

Patented Dec. 16, 1884.

V No. 309,334.

WITNESSES:

ATTORNEY My 5 3M 3 z Miran 'Sra'rns KATE O. CLARK, OF NEXV YORK, N. Y.

CORSET.

ESPECIPICATION forming part of Letters Patent No, 309,334, dated December 16, 188 5.

Application filed March 4, 1884.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, KATE O. CLARK, a citizen of the United States, residing at New York, in the county and State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Corsets, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in corsets whereby different degrees of expansibility are secured to that portion which is below the waist, so that the bottom line or zone of the corset will yield and expand to a less degree and less readily than the portion between it and the waistin other words, the portion or zone of the corset which is on a line with or comes directly over the abdomen is made more yielding and expansible than the bottom edge or lower line of the corset, thus enabling that part to adjust itself more directly to the outward curve and swell of the abdomen, and giving to the bottom part of the corset, by reason of its less expansibility, the character and action of a brace or upward support for the lower part of the abdomen. The objects are accomplished by means of gores of a general ovoidal or elliptical shape in each half of the corset filled with elastic material. The upper ends of the gores are pointed, and they begin near the waist and increase in diameter in curved lines as they extend downward for more than half the length of the gores, when they begin to diminish in breadth, running out through the bottom edge of the corset with a lessening diameter. The lower portion of the corset is also provided with laced openings, which extend from the waist down through the bottom edge of the corset, and thus secure the means of adjusting the lower portion of the corset to the abdomen and hips. These objects I accomplish in the manner and by the means hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, illustrating my invention, in which- Figure 1 is aside perspective view of a corset embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a side view of one of the corset-sections as it appears when spread out. Fig. 3 is a detail View of the binding.

Similar letters indicate corresponding parts.

The letter A designates the corset-sections,

(No model.)

both having a slit or opening, 13, in the hip portionthat is to say, in that portion thereof which is opposite to the hip-joint of the wearer a-nd having elastic gores G O on opposite sides of the hip-opening, one being intermediate of the opening and the front D, and the other intermediate of the opening and the back E of the corset. Said hip-opening B is provided with a lacing-cord, F, which is drawn through eyelet-holes on the opposite edges of the opening, and it will be noticed that by adjusting this cord the tension of both elastic gores G O can be regulated, so that the corset is not only very comfortable to the wearer, but also fits neatly to the body, inasmuch as by the positions of the gores the corset yields uniformly in both directions from the hip-joint, while the hip-opening and lacing-cord permit the adjustment of the corset to the shape or condition of the body without undue strain of the gores. The edges of each gore C converge toward the bottom or lower edge of the corset, as shown, so that the widest part thereof is above the lower edge of the corset and substantially in the line of the abdomen, where the corset is exposed to the strain of this portion of the body, and consequently the utility of the gore is thereby materially increased, especially in an abdominal corset. The lower edge or zone of the corset is less expansible than the portion between it and the waist, and consequently, as above explained, the lower edge acts as a brace or up ward support for the abdomen, while the portion between it and the waist, being more expansible, acts with less pressure, or, rather a more yielding pressure, against the outward curve or swell of the abdomen, thereby promoting the comfort and health of the wearer.

The ends of the binding I of the corset are secured by clasps s, (best seen in Fig. 3,) of sheet metal, which are held in place by punching the metal at divers points, -to form inwardly-projecting barbs, and by this means considerable time and labor are saved in comparison with the ordinary method of fastening the ends of the binding, and the manufacture of the corset is cheapened.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

A corset having the hip portion slitted ver tically to form a hip-opening, which is pro;

Vided with a lacing-cord, the hip portion on opposite sides of the slit provided, respectively, with an elastic gore of ovoidal form, as '5 shown, arranged wholly below a horizontal line taken through the waist portion, and the widest portion of the gores being in line with the zone of the corset which lies directly over the abdomen, and rendering the bottom or 10 lower line of the corset less expansible than that portion of the corset-zone which lies over the abdomen to impart to the lower edge of the corset the action of a brace or'upward support for the lower part of the abdomen, substantially as described. 7 I 5 In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal in the presence of two subscribing witnesses. 7

KATE G. CLARK. [L. s] Witnesses:

- J OHN M. BEAVER, G. W. DITOHETT. 

